Digital accessibility: is your website affected by the 2025 obligations?
Since 28 June 2025, many e-commerce websites and online services must be accessible. Who’s affected, what to do and why it’s good for SEO too.
By Léo Chuzel · Published on · 3 min read
An accessible website is one that everyone can use, including people who are visually impaired, deaf, have a motor or cognitive disability, or are simply older. Long reserved for public websites, the accessibility obligation has been extended to part of the private sector with the European Accessibility Act, applied in France since 28 June 2025.
Who’s affected?
The obligation covers certain products and services, notably:
- e-commerce: websites and apps that sell products or services online to consumers;
- banking services for individuals;
- passenger transport services (ticketing, information);
- e-books and electronic communication services;
- certain equipment, such as payment terminals and kiosks.
The micro-enterprise exemption
Micro-enterprises providing services, meaning those with fewer than ten employees and annual turnover or a balance sheet total not exceeding €2 million, are exempt from these obligations for their services. A small Marseille shop with its online store isn’t necessarily affected. A small business with fifteen employees that sells online, on the other hand, is.
What accessibility means in practice
The technical reference is the European standard EN 301 549, which builds on the international WCAG rules; in France, the RGAA is its national version. Among the most common points:
- Sufficient contrast between text and background.
- Alt text for images that carry information.
- Keyboard navigation possible across the whole website, with a visible indicator of the selected element.
- Forms with clear labels and understandable error messages.
- A logical heading structure, for people who navigate with a screen reader.
- Subtitled videos, and no content that flashes or scrolls without a way to stop it.
- Text that can be enlarged without breaking the layout.
- An accessibility statement published on the website, describing the level of compliance.
Accessibility “overlays” aren’t enough
Some tools promise to make a website accessible simply by adding a script and a button. They don’t fix the underlying problems (structure, forms, keyboard navigation) and can even get in the way of users of assistive technologies. Accessibility is built into the website’s code and design.
A benefit for everyone
- More customers: a large share of the population lives with a disability or a limitation, and the population is ageing.
- Better SEO: structured headings, alt text, explicit links and fast pages are also SEO signals.
- A better mobile experience: large enough buttons, text readable in bright sunlight, simple forms.
- A responsible image with your customers and partners.
Shopify, WordPress: where do they stand?
The platforms provide a foundation, but accessibility depends above all on the chosen theme, its customisations and the apps installed. An auto-playing carousel, a badly designed pop-up or a size selector that can’t be used with a keyboard is enough to block a purchase. An audit identifies these issues. If you’re launching a store, also read our guide to creating a Shopify store.
How to move forward
- Check whether your business is affected (activity, headcount, turnover).
- Have an accessibility audit carried out on your key pages: home, products, cart, checkout, contact.
- Fix whatever blocks the purchase journey first.
- Publish your accessibility statement.
- Build accessibility into every change to the website, so you don’t slide backwards.
A website redesign is the ideal opportunity to start on an accessible foundation. All the websites we design follow accessibility best practice from the design stage. Also find the other obligations in our article on legal notices, the GDPR and cookies.